One of the most important characteristics of effective public servants is the ability to move beyond petty squabbles to craft solutions to the challenges facing their constituents. Unfortunately, such effective leadership is lacking on Smith Hill.
In a seeming fit of pique over Gov. Donald L. Carcieri’s use of outside contractors – for what are perceived to be excessive fees – the legislature scuttled legislation supported by the governor that would have raised the fines that could be levied against polluters from $1,000 a day to $50,000 a day.
The effect of this action is to deprive the state of the resources it needs to hire outside counsel to aggressively prosecute the case against the Southern Union Co. regarding contaminated soil in Tiverton. Because of the chronic budget deficit, the Department of Environmental Management is hamstrung in its efforts to strenuously enforce the state’s environmental laws. And now its ability to advocate for its citizens is further hampered.
The governor may have been the target of the legislative gamesmanship, but the victims are the citizens of Rhode Island. And make no mistake, the sorry state of public policy discourse and the heightened state of political posturing has roots on both sides of the aisle and in both the legislative and executive branches.
The governor shares responsibility with the legislature for failing to show the leadership that the state’s fiscal crisis demands. Voters should be able to rely on their elected officials to get the job done, but if public officials aren’t up to the task, the polling booth is a good place to register displeasure.
Public transit needs
higher priority
For many vital reasons – including quality of life and greenhouse gas emissions – public transportation improvements should be a major component of the public policy dialogue in Rhode Island.
Yet, a report commissioned by The Sierra Club documents the many ways the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority and municipal planners make it hard on people who depend on public transit. Some stops require riders to make difficult and often dangerous traffic crossings to reach their bus. Elderly shoppers catching a bus are often forced to take their shopping carts far from the store, where they are left to roll into traffic.
At the same time, RIPTA has not been successful in promoting a program designed to get more office workers to leave their cars at home and take the bus – more’s the pity for Providence’s many choked and narrow streets.
Given the state’s precarious financial situation, calls for increased funding for RIPTA will likely fall on deaf ears. But it is in all our interests that the authority do a better job with the resources it has to make taking the bus a convenient, safe and commodious alternative.
